The Game (#66)

Big Finish Main Range

This is another adequate and fun adventure with strange holes in the
story. If there are aliens coming and going to this planet, the people
sure are ignorant. And it is ships, according to Morian, not a transmat
or something like that. The idea of a peacemaker who is just a front
for the Doctor, the ultimate peacemaker. Cool idea but it’s another
story that the Doctor and Nyssa aren’t really threatened, despite the
few threats that show up. Nyssa, as usual, makes an emotional
connection to the other characters in this story and the Doctor is a bit
removed, unable to see things clearly until the villain, Morian, shows
his hand. It seems a bit too convenient that a couple of the
inhabitants realize what’s going on, are cooperating with Morian, but
never give the game away.

I like the idea that there are aliens betting on the outcome of the
games, hidden away, watching the torment. The amount of people killed
is ridiculous in the game. Amazing how the inhabitants are, for
hundreds of years, so involved in the game that they ignore the killing,
making it all part of the world culture. It’s all very particular to
the story and it just never really gets going for me. Interesting but
the story meanders and never really captures my imagination.